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Promos for Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief are popping up all over the place today. The most interesting of the lot are a series of character profiles that offer quite a bit of additional footage and more than a few spoilers.
All of these featurettes have at least a little something new to offer, but the portrait of Hades (Steve Coogan), the overlord of the Underworld, has the most new stuff. He has not been featured in the trailers so far, so this really is a first look at him, in human … and not-so-human form. We get a good taste of his personality as well. "I have one pleasure in my life: human suffering," he informs Percy at one point, before going on to lay out his plans for taking over, well, everything.
Although we have been able to sneak a few peeks at Medusa (Uma Thurman) before, her profile here is more extensive and contains the most spoilers. She's definitely got great hair. And, as we can see more clearly in a separately released publicity still, one really seductive accessory.
The footage released in the rest of the character profiles — Percy, Annabeth, Grover — looks to be a windup for the new international trailer, which incorporates some of their highlights, and adds pretty interesting additional bits as well, including a first look at Percy's father Poseidon (Kevin McKidd). However, it currently seems to be available only in a French-dubbed version. Worth watching, nonetheless, and the French makes everything sound even more dramatic.
Posted 02.04.10 by reelz -
A few months back, Quentin Tarantino stated publicly that he will be doing Kill Bill 3. Shortly thereafter, Uma Thurman confirmed that she had already talked with Tarantino about starring once again as The Bride.
Now, Film 24 writes that Daryl Hannah has confirmed that the movie is a reality and that she will reprise her role as the villain Elle Driver. When last we left Elle in Kill Bill: Volume 2, she was blinded and left thrashing around the inside a trailer, with a black mamba snake no less. As Hannah points out, Elle ends up being the only villain on The Bride's hitlist who survives.
Think about it. There's always been a tradition of blind Samurais, and you never actually saw her expire in the other film.
It's anybody's guess as to what Tarantino has planned for the third installment. One theory posited by many fans is that Elle will end up mentoring the daughter of Viveca Fox's Vernita Green, whom The Bride kills early in Kill Bill: Volume 1. Or, it could be that Green's daughter fights The Bride's daughter, who was only four at the end of Kill Bill 2.
At this point, however, it's difficult to say how likely the project is to come to fruition. Apparently, 2014 is the target date, but Tarantino always has lots of ideas churning in his cinephiliac head, and it's never clear which ones will make it in front of the camera.
We'll let you know if we hear anymore news.
Posted 02.04.10 by reelz -
In the trailer for Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, we get a surprising fresh vision of Medusa. In Greek mythology, she is simply a monster with a head full of snakes who turns all who look at her into stone. But in Percy Jackson's world, she promises to be something more — simultaneously the beauty and the beast — as she entices the young hero to "sneak a peek."
It was in part the possibility for re-envisioning this iconic horror that drew director Chris Columbus to the Percy Jackson project in the first place, as he explains in an interview with the Hero Complex blog:
To be able to use the CGI snakes in conjunction with a real actress was the first thing that was exciting to me. As a kid growing up, she was the most frightening creature. I remember watching an old Hammer picture called The Gorgon, and the original [1981 film] Clash of the Titans. They never got Medusa right. For me, she's not just hideous. Medusa's history is tragic at best.
He then goes on to confess that when he thought of his ideal Medusa, Uma Thurman immediately came to mind.
I told her: "You're my first choice." I explained to her that the more pedestrian way to go is just to make her this hideous monster. With Uma, you get an extra added layer of intense sensuality and toughness ... she's someone who's so sensual and seductive, that you'll look into her eyes and forget that she has 75 snakes on her head.
In some recently released publicity stills for the movie, we can see that she does manage to get at least a few people to sneak a peek, with predictably unfortunate results.
Posted 01.12.10 by reelz -
Six new character posters have just been released for director Chris Columbus's new movie, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, the first in a planned series of movies based on the book series by Rick Riordan.
The posters feature Logan Lerman as the title character, the "Son of Poseidon"; Alexandra Daddario as Annabeth Chase, the "Daughter of Athena"; Uma Thurman as Medusa, the "Fatal Beauty"; Pierce Brosnan as Chiron, the centaur "Warrior Guide"; Brandon T. Jackson as Grover, Percy's sayter "Protector"; and Luke Camilleri as Dionysus, "The Exterminator."
For more information about the movie's leads, check out Meet the Cast of Percy Jackson.
Posted 01.07.10 by BrentJS -
The international trailer for Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is out, and it shows the storyline in a much more coherent way than earlier teasers — and displays at least one plot change from the book and an older Percy. (Logan Lerman is clearly not 12 in this clip.)
It also offers a pretty cool preview of some of the movie's creature designs. Highlights include glimpses of the watery powers that Percy inherited from his sea god father Poseidon (Kevin McKidd), a very cool sequence in which his teacher Mrs. Dodds (Maria Olsen) transforms into a bat-winged Fury, and a first look at Uma Thurman as Medusa. Sporting a head full of snakes and a come-hither attitude, she tries to entice our young hero out from behind his iPod to "sneak a peek," with all the horrible consequences that would entail.
See Meet the Cast of Percy Jackson to learn more about the movie's half-bloods, Greek gods, monsters, and occasional mortals.
Posted 11.18.09 by reelz -
With nearly 40 feature films on her resume, actress Uma Thurman is at a point in her career where she can pick and choose her movie projects. In a recent interview with Parade, Thurman said that choosing roles is a very different process for her now that she is a mother.
You feel much more conflicted. I think I really struggled with that conflict. Sort of like, "What's worthy enough to interrupt my kid's life to take them on the road with me while I do a movie?" Now, I just try to balance it. I probably overthink things, but I try to do the right thing. I just do my best. Any working mother will tell you it's the same. I think every working mom is kind of a superhero. I think we all are.
Thurman also confirmed that she has been in talks with Quentin Tarantino about reprising the role of The Bride in a third volume in the Kill Bill saga.
Quentin has talked to me about Kill Bill: Vol. 3 and shared some of his ideas. I think it's going to be awesome. It will be fun to get back into fighting mode even though I'm not much of a meanie. But I now have a physical confidence that I've probably never had in my life. You don't know what you would do until you're attacked. That's the truth. But I think conflict should be avoided. I think conflict is a loss. I totally feel that there is no winnable war.
As far as we — and Thurman's career — are concerned, Kill Bill: Vol. 3 can't come fast enough!
Posted 10.26.09 by BrentJS -
A few weeks ago, Quentin Tarantino excited fans everywhere when he promised a sequel to Kill Bill: Vol. 2.
"The Bride will fight again!" he said.
Uma Thurman has now followed that up with confirmation that she has spoken with Tarantino about the project, which many speculate may involve a showdown between The Bride's daughter and the daughter of Vernita Green (played by Vivica Fox), one of The Bride's victims in Kill Bill: Vol. 1.
Speaking with MTV, Thurman said:
We did chat, we did chat. He has not yet finished the script. I don't even really know if he's really started it, although I got a taste of some of his ideas and they are really good.... He has started to share with me what he was thinking, and it's awesome.
So, it sounds as if we can definitely expect a third Kill Bill ... at some point. Remember how long it took Tarantino to finish the script for Inglourious Basterds. So although we're excited about these announcements, we're not holding out hope that we'll see a finished product anytime soon.
And, of course, we have to wonder: Now that Bill is dead (c'mon, is it really a spoiler given the movie names), will the Kill Bill name still apply, simply for consistency? Or will Tarantino come up with a different name, possible starting a whole new series?
MTV tried to prod Thurman for further details, finally leading her to cry out, "I can't tell you! I'm sorry!"
Posted 10.16.09 by reelz -
During an interview on Italian TV, director Quentin Tarantino surprised everyone, including the interviewer, by spontaneously promising that he would make Kill Bill Volume 3.
The interviewer wasn't even asking about it. She was just asking about a prequel to Inglourious Basterds ("maybe") and a sequel to Pulp Fiction ("never"), when Tarantino prompted her to ask about Kill Bill. He then delivered the surprisingly positive response ("yes"). And in the follow-up he said, "The Bride will fight again."
Tarantino has teased projects before that never saw the light of day, and the Bride (Uma Thurman) hasn't weighed in on the possibility, so the news should probably be taken with a grain of salt. Still, since he brought it up himself ... hmm.
Posted 10.01.09 by reelz -
Variety reports that the Boston Film Festival will award Uma Thurman with a "film excellence" award for her acting career.
Thurman has certainly had an eclectic, up-and-down career. Interestingly enough, she wasn't even on-screen for her debut film role: She lent her voice to the English-language dubbing of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, the 1984 feature from legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki.
Later in the 80s, she also had small roles in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen and Dangerous Liaisons. She was also the title female character in Henry & June, which in 1990 became the first movie to receive an NC-17 (just after the rating was introduced to replace the X).
But of course, her breakout was as Mia Wallace in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, for which she received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination. Since then, she's taken on a variety of interesting, off-beat roles (Kill Bill, Sweet and Lowdown, Beautiful Girls) as well as some highly forgettable ones (Batman & Robin, The Avengers, Be Cool).
The Boston Film Festival gets underway on September 18 with Thurman's upcoming Motherhood, in which she plays a frazzled woman trying to plan her daughter's sixth birthday party. The movie, which was written and directed by Katherine Dieckmann, also stars Anthony Edwards and Minnie Driver and is due for a limited release on October 16.
Posted 09.05.09 by reelz -
For cinephiles (pronounced “movie nerds”), the works of Quentin Tarantino aren’t just fun on their own terms: They’re packed with nods, winks, and say-no-mores to other movies, genre clichés, and Tarantino’s own conventions. His characters are no exception, though some of them may pop us for saying so.
When Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds rides a pile of Nazi corpses into a theater near you, it’s a pretty safe bet that some of the writer-director’s favorite stock characters will be along for the genoride. And yes, many of them will be movie buffs. Here are the ones to watch for with your one good eye through a hail of bullets, sleet of blood, and freezing rain of gore.
Check out the Top 10 Tarantino Character Types.
Posted 08.14.09 by reelz